Blog8 October 2025
This week, we kicked off a month-long celebration packed with events and opportunities for our students with our annual Black History Month Assembly.
This year’s assembly was kicked off in style with a high-energy quiz led by Student Voice representative, Joy. Our Assistant Principal Learner Services & Lead Cross College DSL, Janet Davidson, then hosted an inspiring panel discussion with Vanessa Yakubu and Dylan Aupetit who shared invaluable advice on overcoming imposter syndrome and staying true to your identity in professional settings.
Vanessa, who is an Ada Sixth Form alumna and landed an apprenticeship with Just Eat Takeaway.com, shared the importance of resilience, setting up systems to manage priorities and keeping all options open. She told our students they need to be ‘apprenticeship warriors’ working through the various stages and volume of applications!
Dylan highlighted the importance of giving back, having connected with nearly 2,000 students! He also discussed the importance of staying true to it, always seeking support and guidance from Board Directors. We liked his thoughts on ‘showing up and doing things you don’t enjoy’ as these experiences build resilience and character.
Both panelists shared their inspirations: Vanessa cited Maya Angelou as a guiding influence, while Dylan spoke about his admiration for Denzel Washington.
But wait… the celebration doesn’t stop there!
We have a packed schedule of upcoming Black History Month activities, including student participation in Black Tech Fest, made possible by generous ticket donations from Playground Games, and attendance at UK Black Business Week, thanks to World Wide Technology.
These opportunities will broaden our students’ networking and industry understanding within the tech sector.
It’s truly a fantastic start to a month dedicated to standing firm in power and pride!
Learn more about our impact and how we’re bridging the gap between digital education and employment in the tech sector for students from underrepresented backgrounds:
https://www.ada.ac.uk/about-us/impact
And don’t forget to follow us on socials to see pictures and videos of all these upcoming activities, including pictures from our recent assembly!